Introduced Version
Senate Bill 24 History
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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
Senate Bill No. 24
(By Senator Yoder)
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[Introduced January 10, 2007; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
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A BILL to establish a volunteer litter reporting pilot project in
Berkeley County.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
BERKELEY COUNTY LITTER CONTROL PILOT PROJECT.
§1. Berkeley County litter control and reporting pilot project.
The Berkeley County litter control pilot project is hereby
created and shall be supported, implemented and overseen by the
Berkeley County Commission. The pilot project is intended to:
(1) Coordinate all industry and business organizations seeking
to aid in the litter control and recycling effort in Berkeley
County;
(2) Cooperate with all municipal governments in Berkeley
County to accomplish coordination of local litter control and
recycling efforts;
(3) Encourage, organize, coordinate and increase public awareness in Berkeley County of and participation in all voluntary
litter control and recycling campaigns, including citizen litter
watch programs, seeking to focus the attention of the public on the
litter control and recycling programs of Berkeley County, including
all municipal governments and private recycling centers in Berkeley
County;
(4) Encourage, organize, coordinate and increase public
awareness of, and participation in, a volunteer litter reporting
program county-wide. The county commission shall appoint a
director who shall assist the county commission and the county
sheriff in establishing the program, which shall utilize trained
volunteers to report and collect information necessary to enable
the county sheriff to issue citations to persons violating the
litter laws of this state. The scope of duty of a volunteer
participating in the litter reporting program may include:
Reporting the motor vehicle registration plate number, the date,
time and location of a person observed littering; collecting other
evidence as may be requested by the county sheriff, including
taking photographs of a litter site; providing testimony in court
proceedings as to litter violations observed or evidence collected
by the volunteer; and providing other assistance in litter
enforcement as may be requested by the county sheriff, except that
in no event may a volunteer participate in the direct apprehension
or arrest of a litter violator. The county sheriff, may seek the assistance of the law-enforcement section of the Department of
Environmental Protection, to provide a training course for
volunteers to instruct them in proper reporting procedures and the
collection of evidence, and may provide reporting forms for
volunteers to record their observations of litter violations. Upon
completion of the course and approval from the county sheriff, a
volunteer may begin participation in the program. Volunteers
participating in the program are responsible for providing their
own vehicles, gasoline, cameras, cell phones, insurance and other
items they may use while participating in the program, and are
responsible for other incidental expenses they may incur in the
course of participating in the program, except as otherwise
provided in this section. The Berkeley County Commission may cause
appropriate signs to be placed along primary and secondary highways
in Berkeley County to inform motorists of the volunteer litter
reporting program;
(5) Recommend to municipal governing bodies in Berkeley County
that they adopt litter control ordinances similar to the provisions
of section twenty-six, article seven, chapter twenty of the West
Virginia Code;
(6) Investigate the methods and success of techniques of
litter control, removal and disposal utilized in other states, and
develop, encourage, organize and coordinate county-wide litter
control programs funded by grants awarded pursuant to subsection (b) of this section utilizing such successful techniques;
(7) Investigate the availability of, and apply for, funds
available from any and all private or public sources to be used in
the litter control pilot project created by this section;
(8) Establish criteria for the awarding of direct and/or
matching grants for the study of available research and development
in the fields of litter control, removal and disposal, methods for
the implementation of such research and development, and the
development of public educational programs concerning litter
control in Berkeley County;
(9) Designate public areas in Berkeley County where litter
receptacles shall be placed and specify within the minimum number
of litter receptacles required to be placed at each designated
public area;
(10) Attract to Berkeley County persons or industries that
purchase, process or use recyclable materials; and
(11) Contract for the development, production and broadcast of
radio and television messages promoting the Berkeley County litter
control pilot project. The messages should increase public
awareness of and promote citizen responsibility toward the
reduction of litter in Berkeley County.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish a volunteer
litter reporting pilot project in Berkeley County.